Do What Buffett Says, Not What He Does

As can be seen in the attached clip Warren Buffett, as part of his anti money tirade, both real (gold) and fiat, the Chairman of Berkshire is certainly not a fan of holding cash in any form. To wit: "cash is as risky an asset you can own over time." In other words, the opportunity cost of not owning something else with that cash is indicative of even more risk in the equities arena. So one wonders: is the fact that Buffett's firm now has a record amount of cash on its books more an example of senility or hypocrisy.... Or is all hell about to break loose as per Buffett's own words? We can't decide.

Compare the oracular words He spaketh in today's interview with Becky 'not-so' Quick - forward to 2:30 for the punchline on cash...

with the sad reality of BRK's own balance sheet exuberance with the highly risky cash...

To give CNBC their credit, their was one lone voice in the darkness. Gary Kaminsky pointed out this apparent hypocrisy this morning but alas the powers-that-be at the business channel felt videos of Zuck's arrival and 'The Avengers' reviews were more appropriate.

This crusty old bastard has become such a crony scumsucker that he's worse than any villain Ayn Rand could have dreamed up for Atlas Shrugged. His rambling contradictory blathering is a daisy chain of obselete, defunct economic colloquialisms designed to provide a smoke screen for the simple fact that he has no fucking clue what he's doing or how to operate in this fundamentally flawed economy, and that he has completely given up attempting to be an honest actor and his entire strategy now revolves around buying favor from politicians and central bankers. He is a decrepit, rotting piece of crony zombie flesh, and the world will be a far better place when he's gone.

You are almost exactly right about Old Warren except fo rthe fact that he certainly does know how ot operate in this flawed economy and not only does he have a clue how to do so he is scamming the system even more as it collapses and devolves into the next economic iteration.

The fucking scumbag is right at the forefront of the thievery. That isn't by accident but by design.

let's just say that he is not the wealthiest individual, he doesn't really move markets, we all know who does move it and who has it all...

why would he or anyone still even care about investing in his age(obviously won't either enjoy it or see the results of his investments growth)...he really even almost passed the age of giving it all away to experience joy of sharing with less fortunate than him...

He's not loosing it. The chart says "Cash AND MARKETABLE SECURITIES." Under GAAP [Generally Accepted Accounting Principles] the term Cash can include short-term MARKETABLE SECURITIES such as 90 day US Treasuries. So no lying going on...they're not sitting on cash they've invested it in Berniek & Co.

I think he is more like a vampire squid, talking up the opposite side of the trade he wants to make. Probably is overweight in cash because he thinks the market is going to tank, and he wants to buy those equities from retail investors at firesale prices.

My comment was more literal than that. If you listen to him carefully, he contradicts himself within seconds of stating a position, and then laughs uncomfortably...the avuncular uncle thing. At the level of his actual words, he is often contradictory.

Uncle Warren always preached conservative, value-oriented investing. The generous terms of his 5 billion investment in Goldmans indicates a risky bet, contrary to the Buffett investing method. So was it a safe play because he knew that the government was going to bail out the banks and AIG? Either he is disingenuous or had access to inside information. And let's not forget his large positions in derivatives, those financial weapons of mass destruction. Ah shucks Warren, you are completely self-serving and cannot be trusted.

remember he was fighting the government a few years back asking to be given special exemption to not have to report his trades because people might front-run him? whatever happened with that? did obama give in and say sure, warren - whatever you want.

that's exactly the problem with the system deep79 that the people are so stupid and continue to allow banks and Berkshire to get bailed out at their expense. good luck with that....always winning long bet on stupidity

I went home for lunch and turned on CNBC I actually watched them beat up gold and silver ,recommending a short position in silver ,while at the same time hyping that piece of crap Facebook. I think the whole segment was about one minute long. That's all I could take of their propoganda.

"Some day I could be just like him and leave this life of debt slavery behind. Just work hard, mind da boss and maybe, just maybe, I can be a Buffett too."

Gotta let the slaves think they can make it big so they work that much harder in the salt mines. I've been guilty of this mindset at one point in my life so I'm not calling the pot black.

It's called the slave mentality and while it appears to be completely different from the 17th century slave trade, it is almost exactly the same. The standard of living is just a bit higher. And the cost (to the slave owners) for allowing that higher living standard is more than offset by the dramatically increased productivity from the seemingly sated slaves.

At the risk of excommunication from Zero Hedge, for all the good that it does (and ZH does great good) ZH is also not much more than a soothing balm for our own brand of Cognitive Dissonance.

The bottom line is that while ZH may bring the horse to the water, most of the horses that come here are already somewhat aware that something is very very wrong. And even then, ZH can't make them drink the water.

He's just an asshole who got very lucky early in his career, and now he basically flies by the seat of his pants. Once in a while he will blurt a "pearl" or two for those numbskulls who would be bamboozled by his pseudo-intelligence. You know, like Becky.

"I am a humanist, I like every thing you say about the church and the need for Reform as it corresponds to everything my Florentine education taught me. But why o why does an INTELLIGENT man like you want to bad mouth our thousand year construct which has been SO GOOD TO US...THE GUY JESUS MADE US WHAT WE ARE, WHY THROW OUT THE BABY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH THE BATH WATER OF INDULGENCE SIMONY?"

History repeats; only today, the "FREE Global MARKET" of US Uber-Alles, IS the PApal church and Bob Bernarnke is its Pope defending the Greenback financial God of the world. All Hail the Papal church and down with heresy.

Winning streaks ended for the Papal church after a thousand years in 1527! Life was never the same again in the Vatican.

He's gettin reddy to kick the can. I don't know where to. I don't think it is down the road. But he appears to have found a way of taking his money with him. Maybe it is to pay the US military cash not to interfere with the bankster attack on the US. I thought he said he was buying single family homes with it. I thought he was buying the Dip with it. I thought he was buying ice cream cones with it. The only thing I do know is that CNBC lies.

They send Becky to kiss his wrinkly ass because the brass think he will juice the ratings but the only people that watch are too old for the Viagra ads anyway. Buffett is the walking embodiment of Wall Street - old, decrepit, and flawed.

Can you examine the Berkshire return since the late 90"s compared to Treasuries, or Gold, or some combination thereof? I think investing in both of those assets (or the combo) would have generated superior returns to Berkshire, even after BRK benefited massively from bailouts, subsidies, inside info, etc. during and after the financial crisis.

Warren is nothing more than a proxy for Washington and Wall Street now. With nobody believing or having any confidence with the twin W's, they now need to look to these so called "experts" that come with perceived creditibility to deliver the message that all is well. Funny thing with BH's latest earnings as they seemed to have been heavily based in their insurance interests and derivative bets (both paper based businesses). Building cash reserves, earnings being driven from paper, hell, it sounds like Warren is nothing more than an investment bank located in the center of the country. Not sure if any readers on ZH really believe Warren and his side kick Charles but it does provide for some good talking points.

He's been in a big cash position for years & yet he is right about it being a risky asset. The gov't has devalued it 2124% since the Fed was perpetrated on us in 1913. His problem is that the derivatives he's been able to use in the past (usually about 30% of his trading) are now even riskier and he can't or won't buy at these Fed pumped prices. Since he hates gold, he is stuck. He has to rely on giving Obammy a blow job every once in a while so he can get contracts (handouts) for his portfolio companies. Not senile, just an effing scumbag.

Poor guy. Got all of that cash instead of tangible things with real value. "Everything's overpriced!" he says. "I want to own productive assets, but there aren't any!" I wonder, surely he realizes why, right?

You know what I find interesting is not what Buffett says about gold, but that He says it. If Gold is so barbaric or ridiculous, why do they keep on talking about it? Maybe, it is bias as Graham was agains it too.

"If Gold is so barbaric or ridiculous, why do they keep on talking about it?"

I suspect because he is constantly asked about it. After all, don't you ask the Oracle to solve all your Cognitive Dissonances? These people are plagued by the Gold CD. If it's soooo bad, why has it risen every year for a decade?

Which means that some of those who are asking will eventually purchase some Gold just because.......well, you know........just in case.

Welcome future Gold owners. Hopefully you will quickly see the wisdom of becoming physical Gold stackers rather than paper Gold "renters".

Connections like being born into an established wealthy political family? Connections among the D.C. and New York elite? Invitations into the halls of power at will?

Oh, no, never mind. I heard he made his fortune starting at age 10 selling newspapers and collecting cans. He's just a hard worker that came from nothing. The rest of you are just envious of his success. Envious and lazy.

This stupid geezer is on CNBC every dam time I turn around. How pathetic for a 99 year old fosil to be so vain that he still feels the need to be fawned over on a continual basis by a bunch fake paid harlots and hacks. "Tell us how great stocks are Warren." Tell us how much money you have Warren." "Tell us again that gold is not a good investment Warren." "Tell us about how you play bridge with your best pal Bill Gates who is also a billionair." "Tell us what you'll do with all you're money when you die." Who gives a shit.

The Boomers are dying, and their heroes are dying with them. Seeing men like Buffet die helps ameliorate the stifling fear that has overtaken the Boomer generation in their old age. Even the richest men in the world die, and this thought consoles them somewhat.

I watched the comments from one of the Foreign Leaders about the Buffet rule where he said that Buffets wants all of the Millionaires and Billionaires to pay more taxes to protect his assets.

Buffet wants everyone to put their Money in the Market to support his Companies and his derivatives bet on the Futures. Money in Gold means less money in the Market to support his Companies.

Without new taxes and people putting more and more money in the Market he is dead in the water and he knows it. He does not want to go back to 2008. He knows the terror of his portfolio if everything falls apart.

Plus he sold a buttload of puts on the market. If the market goes south, his hit is going to be one for the record books. I don't know if he is trying to be TBTF or what. The risk profile makes no sense at all.

And yet I am gang raped by the old people on Zero Hedge when I say buying a home to use as a primary residence in the U.S. right now is a financially wise move. If I weren't about to become an expat and flee the fascist police state known as the United States, I'd be buying a home for sure.

Wow CNBC wondering about their ratings. Warren Buffet for three hours this morning plus clips all day long, then Cramer to follow after Buffet, and now Abby Joseph Cohen. Facebook IPO all day. You know they are pumping stocks hard.

"civilized people" invest in productive businesses, where "productive" means businesses that take advantage of government tax and spending and other anti-competetive policies. Oh, and businesses that are productive in making the world obese.

Buffett is the classic rich douchebag. When he's raking in the bucks, he's a died-in-the-wool capitalist & if u aren't making bundles of cash too, it's because U're lazy.

When his investments turn south, all of a sudden we need government intervention & he turns into a socialist. Social programs for the poor? Nope. Remember, I said they're lazy? They're not making it on their own like Ol' Uncle Warren.

Buffett indicated they were close to a major acquisition in the neighborhood of $22bn, but didn't move forward because it would have meant selling some of the stocks in the Berkshire portfolio to raise additional funds.

Bloomberg had a thing on Buffet this morning with the 3 ladies discussing Buffet's stance on women. The discussion centered around Buffet slamming Augusta National golf club for not having women members. The 3 ladies thought it was great that Buffet took this position even though they acknowledged Buffet doesn't have senior level women working for him.

I believed they're called Limousine Liberals because they'll tell you how great walking everywhere is as their chaufeur runs you down in the street like a dog.

Women only play golf because their boyfriend/husband plays golf. In fact, most women only do anything because some man that is fucking them also does it. Women have no personality and no interests or hobbies in the sense that men use those terms. The closest thing women have to a hobby is shopping. So walking around spending money. That's the most common female hobby. When you run into a woman and she does some normal hobby it means that some dude that was railing her imprinted that hobby onto her, like a dick in a piece of silly putty.

Having said that, hilariously; the vast majority of women are absolutely awful at golf. Why would you want them to be allowed to play at your elite golf club? I sure wouldn't.

1. You have to maintain "women's tees" if you allow women to play.

2. They slow the pace of play because they don't hit the ball as far as a man.

3. Most of them are awful, so they're taking 150 strokes per round.

4. Also, fuck you, it's a private club and they can do what they want. No colored allowed.

Warren's opinion is whatever is good for warren, the serfs shouldn't hold cash, give all your cash to warren, don't invest in gold, give all your cash to warren, pay a bunch of taxes, warren not going to pay hardly any taxes. The guys as bad as goldman is about being full of shit and having to use double reverse psychology on the nonsense that comes out of his mouth. Until his stock goes north significantly he can shut the fuck up, nobody wants to listen to an investor who no longer knows how to make fucking money for his investors.